I have had several messages recently asking me why, in my opinion, the United Opposition electioneering strategy is as dire as I have stated it is. Fair point - Despite stating numerous times that it is sadly dismal/dire/ineffective (take your pick I have used all those words and more) I have not really explained in […]
Ukrainian election advertising & Twitter
July 25, 2012 by 1 Comment
For some quite unknown reason, I have recently taken to commenting about the electioneering adverts of various contenders in the forthcoming Ukrainian parliamentary October elections on twitter. To my surprise it has been quite popular and subjected to numerous retweets on occasion. That said I can be quite cynical as this tweet about the Communist […]
“Ukraine against Yanukovych” Campaign - Yatseniuk
July 9, 2012 by 1 Comment
Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! One of the reasons I have always had time for Arseniy Yatseniuk, is that over the past decade he has very rarely entered into “personality politics” and remained firmly in the policy arena. He is after all, a natural born thinker and quite capable in the policy […]
Are there limits to democratic legitimacy? Ukraine’s Constitutional Assembly
May 22, 2012 by 2 Comments
How far and how oblique can a democratic mandate be before it loses legitimacy? As regular readers of this blog will know, in 2010, at the request of Arseniy Yatseniuk (leader of the opposition party Front for Change), shortly after becoming president Viktor Yanukovych created a Constitutional Assembly tasked to examine and recommend amendments to […]
Ukrainian opposition rally in Kyiv - A flop
May 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
For some months now I have been somewhat encouraged by the Ukrainian opposition political parties when looking at the opinion polls. Not that they are certain to win the parliamentary elections looking at the polling figures, far from it. It will be a close run thing as things stand today. What has been encouraging is […]
Yatseniuk speaks in Brussels
April 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Well it is no secret that I consider Ukraine will be stuck in a rut until Yanukovych, Tymoshenko and the other (in)famous political personalities which seeped from the Kuchma government into power are consigned to the history bin of Ukrainian politics. I have said any future worthy of getting even slightly enthusiastic about will come […]
Something a bit fishy within the (almost) united opposition
March 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
There is something a bit fishy going on between Yulia Tymoshenko’s BYuT and Arseniy Yatseniuk’s Front for Change political parties. It is called COD. That would be COD as is Committee to Oppose Dictatorship rather than the fish that swims in the sea. However you will recall this post of mine from a month ago […]
Political youth wings - Ukraine
August 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Now then dear readers. What do we think about political youth wings to political parties? A good idea? - They are nothing new after all. Are they only a bad idea when the political ideology behind them is somewhat radical/extreme such as the Hitler Youth or the Communist equivalent? Nobody has concerns over the young […]